16 surgeries cannot keep this 12-year-old from excelling and giving back

Eva Mae Ross’ elementary school résumé would be impressive for any kid.

The sixth grader at the Academy of Math and Science-Prince; does cross country and track and field; plays piano; volunteers at her church; and has been a winner in the Tucson Festival of Books Young Authors competition.

Stories that Soar also picked up and performed one of her stories.

In third grade, she was Student of the Year. She recently stopped doing gymnastics.

About a month ago, mom Robin Ross’ Facebook feed inspired her to put together bags of essentials for the homeless people they encounter on street corners.

They stuff the bags with socks, snacks, hygiene necessities and Band-Aids.

“Just watching her say, ‘Sir! Sir! Come over to my car.’ She is just really funny about it,” Ross says. “They are just so taken aback by her.”

Eva Mae, 12, stays busy to stay positive.

The extracurricular activities “help me physically and mentally and they kind of keep my mind off of the negative things that might be going on,” she says.

And sometimes, there’s a lot going on.

Robin Ross adopted Eva Mae from Vietnam at 2 1/2 years old. Her daughter had been left at the gates of an orphanage as a newborn, umbilical cord still attached, wrapped in a towel.

“She was born with cleft lip/palate, and that’s a shame on the family,” Ross says, noting that because Eva Mae was born in a southern province near Cambodia, the likelihood of her being trafficked for sex as a young child was high.

“We would walk around the streets of Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City, and people would come up and say, ‘She’s a lucky girl,’ and I would think, ‘I’m lucky,’” Ross says. “I would see women beggars on the street with cleft/lip palate, so I know what they meant, but I’m the one that’s blessed in this.”

Earlier this year, Ross' spouse, LaConda Ross, also adopted Eva Mae.

Since coming back to the U.S. with Ross, Eva Mae has had 16 or 17 surgeries and usually has about three medical appointments each month. She remains in speech therapy. Eva Mae has developed anxiety as a result of the surgeries — one of the reasons she stays so busy, Ross says.

“I’ve been through a lot of things, so I try to be the best I can, and I try to find the positive in everything,” Eva Mae says. “I know that even though you might be going through a hard time, you’ll get through it.”

She thinks she might want to become a doctor one day to help others — “I’m not the best with blood, so maybe a mental doctor,” she clarifies. Already, her friends come to her for support, looking her way for some positivity and a good cheer-up. She likes to help others feel better.

“Her first two-and-a-half years in an orphanage, in a crib on the floor, she never crawled,” Ross says. “She was malnourished. The fact that she is alive and able to function at all is a miracle to me, and the fact that she tries to overcome her anxiety by excelling in things and giving back is just amazing. She’s not very good at tooting her own horn because it’s her life. It’s just what she does.”